The Seen and the Unseen 



There are few more elusive feathered 

 friends than the cuckoo with the yellow 

 bill. You may often hear him in the 

 trees, but will require a quick and well- 

 trained eye actually to discover him. 

 He is known by his note only to most 

 people, and they usually refer to him 

 as "the rain crow." Of course, he is 

 not a crow at all, any more than the 

 "snowy cricket" of the August night 

 is a "tree toad." This yellow-billed 

 cuckoo voiced his message very early 

 one morning, just before the sun had 

 shown his ruddy rim above the still 

 gray waters of the lake; and later on 

 was heard again, and, as he wove a 

 spell of memories of olden days, I 

 fancied I could see and hear "Black 

 Swans" and nodding plumes and leafy 

 whisperings at the end of a road that 

 leads from winter quarters out to an 

 enchanted castle in the woods where 

 a Fairy Princess sleeps and waits. 



It is not a lofty pile of stone with 

 draw-bridge, moat and rugged battle- 



[7] 



